From the August 21st Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY):
A Stuart Middle School teacher has been removed from the classroom after he burned two American flags in class Friday as part of a civics lesson, according to Jefferson County Public Schools officials..Dan Holden, who teaches seventh-grade social studies, burned small flags in two different classes Friday and asked students to write an opinion paper about it, district spokeswoman Lauren Roberts said..A teacher in the school district since 1979, Holden has been temporarily reassigned to non-instructional duties pending a district investigation. The district also alerted city fire officials, who are conducting their own investigation.
I suppose that it didn’t even occur to this teacher that he could have burned the Stars & Stripes as a civics lesson in how to properly dispose of damaged flags (the kind of lesson we once learned as Boy Scouts) and still ask his students "to write an opinion paper" about the free speech aspects of flag burning using their imaginations.
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No, that wouldn’t have occurred to this man who’s been a teacher in the same district since 1979. Predictably, the union rallys ’round the teacher:
Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, said Holden has “been teaching for many years, and has by all accounts a good teaching record. It was not a political statement and was meant to illustrate a controversial issue. To fire someone because of that would be inappropriate,” he said. “It wasn’t like he was taking one side or another.”
How about firing him because of poor judgment? Does the teacher’s union not recognize that "poor judgment" is not a desirable trait for a person in a position of authority over young minds? The fact that students were upset about the flag burning gives me hope for the future. The kids are alright…
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(FYI, The Who’s movie, "The Kids are Alright" came out in 1979, the year this moronic teacher started earning the taxpayer’s money in this KY school district.)
